FGC:Episode 05 Scene 07

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Screenshots Cut # Description/Dialogue Commentary

261
Unit 00’s Entry Plug.

The relief carved on the body. The letters (UP).

Cody MacArthur Fett: "Evangelion / 2014 / 00 / Prototype." Hmm, I suppose that means that Rei's controls are one of the latest models despite this being the first Eva actually completed. Only the best for daddy's little girl, I suppose.


262
The inside of the plug, filled with LCL.

Rei is quiet.

IKARI (OFF, INTERCOM):“Rei.”


263
A body shot of Rei.

She looks calm.

IKARI (OFF, INTERCOM):“Can you hear me?”

REI:“Yes.”


264
Ikari (UP) (same shot as C-003) However his glasses are different and he has gloves on his hands.

IKARI:“We will now carry out Unit-00’s reactivation experiment. Begin first stage connection.”

FreakyFilmFan4ever: The glasses suggest that Gendo is again separates himself from those around him, focusing only on Rei.


265
Ikari, inside the control room.

Ritsuko, Fuyutsuki and others are there too.

SE <<Gashaan!>>

RITSUKO:“Main power supply connected.”

KnightmareX13: Is it really such a good idea to have NERV's commander and vice-commander present at the reactivation test?


thewayneiac: Good point. They make one Cabinet Member stay away from the State of the Union speech for a reason.


266
It’s the same experiment site as last time.

IBUKI (OFF, RIGHT):“Operational voltage has passed the critical point.”

RITSUKO (OFF, LEFT):“Understood.”


Woman:“Energy conversion efficiency is at 99.6%.”


267
Eva-00 raises its head.

RITSUKO (OFF, INTERCOM):“Move format to Phase 2.”


268
Background behind Rei.

MAN-A (OFF, INTERCOM):“Beginning connection of pilot to Unit-00.”

Kendrix: She already looks a bit tense here. Not so much her face, but her eyes...


NemZ: Oh, and another rainbow snuck into the activation (and later deactivation) sequence.

Many different letters and graphics are flowing out of a metal pipe and wrapping around her.

WOMAN-A (OFF, INTERCOM):“Opening circuits.”

Cody MacArthur Fett: OH SWEET BABY MOSES, MY EYES! That shot usually passes by too quick to see in the show, but looking at it frame by frame I really do have to wonder how the pilots stay sane if they have to look at that Technicolor blizzard every time they get into their Evas.


Combs: I have wondered that too. Perhaps it's akin to the rods and cones dancing around in your eyes when you wake up, as the eva is "awakened" when contact is established. I have yet to see circular fractal patterns, however.

The last one becomes a monitoring screen.

WOMAN-A (OFF, INTERCOM):“Pulse and Harmonics normal.”

A human figure appears on the internal window (it’s Shinji).

MAN-B (OFF INTERCOM):“No problems...”

MAN:“Shape topology within normal range”

NemZ: “Normal shape typology” is a rather odd thing to concern oneself with. The shape of what?


269
Shinji watches through the window.

Misato is at the side (coffee in hand).

MAN-B (OFF, SPEAKER):“...with synchronization.”

MAN-A (OFF):“All nerve links complete.”


270
Close-up of the monitor. The middle belt is scrolling up.

MAN-A (SPEAKER):“Central nervous system elements are normal.”


Man:“No problems with nerve connections in any part.”


271
REI (UP)

MAN-B (OFF):“No errors in the recalculations.”

At the end of the cut she looks down briefly.

Kendrix: Whatever caused the last malfunction, it has something to do with dark parts of Rei's self she doesn't want to look at/accept - something that scares her. By looking at Gendo's glasses she affirms her 'connections', reaffirming herself that those are what truly form her and she doesn't have to be afraid of losing herself.


272
Gendo Ikari's glasses are on the fin.
Cody MacArthur Fett: And here we see Gendo's glasses in the entry plug with Rei. Thus proving that not only is she a true Kuudere, but also that she feels she has a deep connection to Shinji's father -- just in case the smiling and giggling wasn't enough of a clue.


thewayneiac: She seems to be using them as a good luck charm.


273
The check items on the flow chart are changing from orange to green, one after the other.

IBUKI (OFF):“List clear up to check 2590.”


Woman:“Nerve graph stable.”


274
Shinji watches Unit 00 through the window.

IBUKI (OFF):“Time to reach absolute borderline...”


275
Misato watches.

IBUKI (OFF):“2.5...”


276
Fuyutsuki, and Ritsuko further inside.

IBUKI (OFF):“1.7... 1.2...”


277
Ritsuko looks straight ahead, but at the very end of the cut she glances briefly to the side, at Ikari.

IBUKI (OFF):“1.0... 0.8...”

Kendrix: when you first watch the series, you think that Ritsuko is presented as Mrs. Competent/reason-oriented and are shocked when you finf out what a monster she is, but if you rewatch it, you notice all those jealous looks...


thewayneiac: Isn't "monster" more than a little harsh? She's ruthless and willing to do what it takes to get her job done. She goes off the deep end starting in Ep. 23 of course, but with good reason. But I can't really see her throttling a 4 year old child like her mother did.

Additional Commentary  

Kendrix: I don't really dislike her because of the "harsh measures/doing her job" thing, everyone in NERV has their moments. But after that smile in ep 23, I couldn't help but feel creeped out. That's when I realized that the reasonable, somewhat cool and more or less nice person we got to see during the rest of the series helping her young assistant and worrying about the children and Misato was as fake as her hair color. It just creeped me out and her comments in 24 just made it worse... yes, she didn't kill any little girls, but Naoko at least showed some regret/killed herself afterwards - Ritsuko vents her Anger at the clones with a very, very uncanny smile on her face

Yes, in the end, she's just a sad and lonely person that got screwed over, but there's something about her I just can't help but feel disgusted by...


278
Ikari, from Ritsuko’s point of view.

It’s his profile (UP).

IBUKI (OFF):“0.6... 0.5...”

Kendrix: He looks fatherly/worried, completely ignoring Ritsuko.

His 'old' family with Yui's descendants is the 'really important thing', and once the really important things are at stake, the 'annoying' Akagis are quickly forgotten.


279
Unit-00 (UP)

IBUKI (OFF):“0.4... 0.3...”


280
Close-up of the check monitor.

The borderline changes from red to green at the very end of this cut.

IBUKI (OFF):“0.2... 0.1... limit crossed.”


281
Top-down view of the experiment site.

IBUKI (OFF):“Borderline cleared.”


282
Close-up of Rei. She has no expression (As if she knew this would happen).

IBUKI (OFF, INTERCOM):“Unit-00 activated.”

REI:“Understood.”


283
Top-down view of test site.

REI (OFF, SPEAKER):“Proceeding directly to movement tests.”



IBUKI:“Roger.”


284
A super long shot of the Pacific Ocean.

A flying object is faintly visible.

K9Thefirst1: Ah! Here she comes! My favorite of the Angels, for reasons that'll be shown later.


Dr. Nick: I remember when I watched Eva for the first time ever, and I just knew that after all this character development and plot build-up there had to be a particularly tough enemy coming coming.


285
Fuyutsuki’s hand putting the receiver down. (UP)

SE <<Clack>>

Xard: Anno really has a fetish for putting phones down. I can't even count how many times they change scene or focus of the scene by inserting quick cut of somebody putting the phone down and usually reporting whatever just was discussed.

This is one storytelling motif that will become very, very familiar for us through the series. It does add a nice "punch" to proceedings though so it's not a bad habit.

This habit is also present in his other works, in fact Anno used it already back in Return of Ultraman tokkusatsu parody film he directed back in early 80s.


286
Shot of Ikari and Fuyutsuki. Fuyutsuki straightens up.

FUYUTSUKI:“Ikari, an unidentified flying object is approaching. It's probably the fifth Angel.”

Ikari decides without a trace of hesitation.

IKARI:“Stop the test. All members proceed to Level 1 Alert.”

Woman:“Roger. All staff, move to stage 1 alert. I repeat, all staff move to stage 1 alert.”

SE <<Alarm starts up.>>

Cody MacArthur Fett: Well, enough of that stuff, the Shito's here and it's time to kick some crystalline superstructure.

Also, you can't see it when he's looking straight ahead, but Gendo has quite a few lines under his eyes, possibly from a lack of sleep.

FUYUTSUKI:“We're not going to use Unit 00?”
Kendrix: See how his glasses become opaque again - He shifts from "Daddy worried about his little girl" into "determined, pokerfaced business mode" in a matter of seconds.

At the end of the cut he turns his face towards Ritsuko just a little bit.

IKARI:“It can’t handle a fight yet. (To Ritsuko) What about Unit 01?”

Kendrix: Now that he needs Ritsuko, he remembers her existence and looks at her, as the script puts it "just a little bit".


287
Ritsuko, in a careful pose.

RITSUKO:“We can have it ready in 380 seconds.”

Cody MacArthur Fett: "We'll have it ready in 380 seconds." . . . *does some calculations* That's six minutes and twenty seconds. Why couldn't she just say "We'll have it ready in a little over six minutes" or seven if she wanted to go the Scotty route with extra symbolism.


thewayneiac: Not to mention that by the time she finishes saying it it's down to 375 seconds.


288
Ikari speaks with absolute conviction.

Unit 00 inside the cage.

IKARI:“Move out!”

RITSUKO (OFF):“Yes, Sir.”

IKARI:“Rei.”


Man:“Air defense shift is A. All air monitoring teams up to number 6, begin searching for flying enemies”

Kendrix: This is determined business! Gendo yelling out orders. Once the orders bit is done, he looks back to the "important things" (Rei), turning his back to Ritsuko and telling his little girl that everything is over.


289
Rei in the plug, without expression.

IKARI (OFF, INTERCOM):“The reactivation was a success. Come back.”

Less than a second after Ikari’s lines, the power cuts out.

SE <<Sound of things turning off (e.g. the sound of the monitor going off.>>

Mr. Tines: do we ever see this lightshow again in the entry plug?


Cody MacArthur Fett: And again with the kaleidescope of colors, this time with what looks like a star-field in one of the provided screenshots. Nifty. Still sickening as all get up, but nifty as well.


290
Rei slowly faces upward.

One bubble rises from her mouth.

Dr. Nick: A rare shot of LCL within a plug acting like a liquid should.


Sailor Star Dust: Despite her air of calm, Rei was just as nervous about this as anybody else. It goes to show that people who call Rei nothing but an "emotionless doll" miss the point of her character.


Kendrix: She was holding her breath/scared a bit, but thinking of Gendo gave her strength. She doesn't fear him as a controlling person or anything at this point - He makes her feel safe.

The two are presented as a working team here, there's something between the two of them that no one else (not even Ritsuko) can enter into - Rei is more than a tool, but something like a daughter.

Additional Commentary  

thewayneiac: Perhaps I shouldn't bring this up as its originator has disavowed it to a large extent, but there was once an extensive debate about the properties of LCL.


Dr. Nick: In all honesty, that is a terrible thread full of Broken English and classic ANF trolls, and I can only recommend it for the morbidly curious. If there's supposed to be some sort of consistent logic in how the LCL behaves within an entry plug, it's not elaborated enough in the show.

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